Cary Burkett is an American radio broadcaster and former

comic book writer A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost al ...

best known for co-creating the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

character

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods. Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...

with artist

Dan Spiegle Dan Spiegle (December 10, 1920 – January 28, 2017) was an American comics artist and cartoonist best known for comics based on movie and television characters across a variety of companies, including Dell Comics, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics ...

Biography

Cary Burkett attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

and earned a BFA degree in theatre. He moved to New York City and performed in

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

productions and wrote comic books for

. His first credits for DC were writing text articles and responses to readers' letters in the letter columns of various titles. Burkett's first published comic book story was titled "When You Wish Upon A Star" and appeared in ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror comics, horror, fantasy comics, fantasy, and mystery fiction, mystery comics anthology, comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets (DC Comi ...

'' #255 (November–December 1977). His best known comics work is the character

. The character's civilian

secret identity A secret identity is a person's code name, cryptonym, disguise, incognito, Cover (intelligence gathering), cover and/or alter ego which is not known to the general populace, most often used in fiction. Brought into popular culture by the Scarlet Pi ...

of Thomas Tresser was created by Burkett in 1979 and named for an actor with whom he was rooming with in New Hampshire. The character debuted in an eight-page backup story in ''

The Brave and the Bold ''The Brave and the Bold'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983. It was followed by a reprint miniseries in 1988, two original miniseries in 1991 and 1999, and was revived as an ongoing anthology ...

'' #166 (September 1980) written by Burkett and drawn by Dan Spiegle. The "Nemesis" feature ran in issues #166 through 192, and the character teamed-up with the

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

in #170 and #193. Another Burkett-created character, the Swashbuckler, debuted in ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' #493 (Aug. 1980) but never appeared again. In 1983, artist

Rich Buckler Rich Buckler (February 6, 1949 – May 19, 2017) was an Americans, American comics artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' in the mid-1970s and for creating the character Deat ...

recruited Burkett to write the ''

Mighty Crusaders The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics. The team originally appeared in ''Fly-Man'' No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, ''The Mighty Crusaders''. Written by Superman co-creator Je ...

'' title for

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...

. That same year saw Burkett begin a two-year run on DC's '' The Warlord'' title. He wrote for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

as well, scripting an adaptation of the '' Sheena'' film and stories for ''

Marvel Team-Up ''Marvel Team-Up'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series featured two or more Marvel characters in one story. The series was originally published from March 1972 through February 1985, and featured Spider-Man as ...

'' and ''

The Spectacular Spider-Man ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics. Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...

''. Upon finishing his run on ''The Warlord'' with issue #99 (November 1985), Burkett left the comics industry. Following his departure from comics, Burkett relocated to Pennsylvania and became a radio broadcaster for

WITF-FM WITF-FM (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public FM radio station licensed to serve Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by WITF, Inc., and broadcasts NPR talk and news programming. It is co-owned with the area's Public Broadcasting Se ...

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

. He hosted ''Classical Air'', a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

program. In 2011, he was a poetry reader for the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about ...

Bibliography

Archie Comics

*''The

'' #4–5, 7–8 (1983–1984)

DC Comics

*''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' #459–460 (

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

) (1978) *''

The Amazing World of DC Comics ''The Amazing World of DC Comics'' was DC Comics' self-produced fan magazine of the mid-1970s. Running 17 issues, the fanzine featured DC characters and their creators, and was exclusively available through mail order. Primarily text articles, wit ...

'' #16 (text article) (1977) *''

'' #143, 147, 153, 156, 160, 168, 170, 193 (

team-up In superhero comic books, a team-up is a fictional crossover where two or more superheroes or superhero teams who usually do not appear together work together on a shared goal. Overview The first team-up between characters published in different ...

s); #166–169, 171–178, 180–192 (

backup feature) (1978–1982) *''

Cancelled Comic Cavalcade The "DC Explosion" and "DC Implosion" were two events in 1978 – the first an official marketing campaign, the second a sardonic reference to it – in which American comics company DC Comics expanded their roster of publications, then abruptly cu ...

'' #1 (1978) *''

DC Comics Presents ''DC Comics Presents'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1978 to 1986 which ran for 97 issues and four ''Annual''s. It featured team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters in the DC Universe. A recurring bac ...

'' #60 (

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

and the

Guardians of the Universe The Guardians of the Universe are a race of extraterrestrial superhero characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Green Lantern. They first appeared in ''Green Lantern'' (vol. 2) #1 (July 19 ...

) (1983) *''

DC Special Series ''DC Special Series'' was an umbrella title for one-shots and special issues published by DC Comics between 1977 and 1981. Each issue featured a different character and was often in a different format than the issue before it. ''DC Special Serie ...

'' #19 (

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

) (1979) *''

'' #488, 492–493 (Batman); 491–499, 501–502, 505–506, 508–510, 512–517 (

Batgirl Batgirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. The character Bette Kane, Betty Kane was introduced into publica ...

backup feature) (1980–1982) *''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' #104 (1981) *''

'' #107–110 (1978) *''

'' #255, 271 (1977–1979) *'' House of Secrets'' #151 (1978) *''

Justice League of America The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived t ...

'' #218 (1983) *''

Men of War ''Men of War'' is a real-time tactics video game franchise, based mainly in World War II. Main series ''Soldiers: Heroes of World War II'' ''Soldiers: Heroes of World War II'' is the original game of the ''Men of War'' series, and uses an ea ...

'' #4–6, 9–11, 21–23 (1978–1979) *'' Secrets of Haunted House'' #14, 40 (1978–1981) *''

'' #328 ("Private Life of Clark Kent" backup feature) (1978) *''

The Superman Family ''The Superman Family'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1974 to 1982 featuring supporting characters in the ''Superman'' comics. The term "Superman Family" is often used to refer to the extended cast of characters of c ...

'' #195–196 ("Private Life of Clark Kent" backup feature) (1979) *'' The Unexpected'' #190 (1979) *'' Unknown Soldier'' #243–248, 254–256 (1980–1981) *'' The Warlord'' #72–99, ''Annual'' #2–4 (1983–1985) *''

Weird War Tales ''Weird War Tales'' is a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics. It was published from September - October 1971 to June 1983. Publication history The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues. It was an an ...

'' #59, 92 (1978–1980) *''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

'' #265–266, 268, 272–274, 277, 279–287 (1980–1983)

Collected editions

* ''Tales of the Batman:

Don Newton Don Newton (November 12, 1934 – August 19, 1984) was an American comics artist. During his career, he worked for a number of comic book publishers including Charlton Comics, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics. He is best known for his work on The Pha ...

'' includes ''The Brave and the Bold'' #153, 156, and ''Detective Comics'' #488, 492–493; 360 pages, December 2011, * ''Batgirl: The Bronze Age Omnibus'' Volume 2 includes ''Detective Comics'' #491-499, 501–502, 505–506, 508–510, 512–517; 576 pages, April 2019,

Marvel Comics

*''

Marvel Super Special ''Marvel Comics Super Special'' was a 41-issue series of one-shot (comics), one-shot comic-magazines published by American company Marvel Comics from 1977 to 1986. They were cover-priced $1.50 to $2.50, while regular color comics were priced 30 cen ...

'' #34 ( Sheena) (1984) *''

'' #139, 144, 146–148 (1984) *''

'' #101–102 (1985)

References

External links

*
"DC Profiles #30: Cary Burkett"
at the Grand Comics Database
Cary Burkett
at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
Comic Treadmill: Nemesis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burkett, Cary American comics writers American radio personalities Living people Moody College of Communication alumni Writers from Texas Year of birth missing (living people)